Toronto was an unincorporated rural community located in Woodside Township

Woodside Township, Sangamon County, Illinois

Woodside Township is located in Sangamon County, Illinois. The population was 12,729 at the 2000 census.- External links :***...

, Sangamon County

Sangamon County, Illinois

Sangamon County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 197,465, which is an increase of 4.5% from 188,951 in 2000...

, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

. It was located adjacent to what is now the Toronto Road exit at Mile 90 of the Illinois section of Interstate 55

Interstate 55 in Illinois

In the U.S. state of Illinois, Interstate 55 is a major north–south Interstate Highway that connects the St. Louis, Missouri and Chicago metropolitan areas. It runs from the Poplar Street Bridge in East St. Louis to U.S. Route 41 near downtown Chicago...

.

Toronto was originally built in the 1800's as a rural station stop on the Illinois Central

Illinois Central Railroad

The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois with New Orleans, Louisiana and Birmingham, Alabama. A line also connected Chicago with Sioux City, Iowa...

 six miles south of Springfield, Illinois

Springfield, Illinois

Springfield is the third and current capital of the US state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County with a population of 117,400 , making it the sixth most populated city in the state and the second most populated Illinois city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area...

, the state capital. Farmers would bring fresh vegetables and milk to the now-vanished railroad station for transportation into nearby cities.

In the late 1960's, Illinois planners built a new greenfield

Greenfield land

Greenfield land is a term used to describe undeveloped land in a city or rural area either used for agriculture, landscape design, or left to naturally evolve...

 state university adjacent to the former Toronto. The university campus, located 1.5 miles northeast of Toronto, is now the University of Illinois at Springfield

University of Illinois at Springfield

The University of Illinois at Springfield is a public university in Springfield, Illinois. The University was established in 1969 as Sangamon State University by the Illinois General Assembly and became a part of the University of Illinois system on July 1, 1995.The University of Illinois at...

 (UIS). Almost all of the land area of the former Toronto has since been annexed into Springfield, and the former rural hamlet has become an urban campustown

Campustown

Campustown may refer to:* a locality of Ames, Iowa, United States* a locality of Champaign, Illinois, United States...

neighborhood. Toronto Road continues to commemorate the former rural hamlet.